Indie Weekends: Aromaleigh Sol Invictus Holiday 2014 Collection Review

I have been awaiting the arrival of my Aromaleigh Sol Invictus collection, because I decided to pre-order it to ensure it would arrive quickly to review for you! This collection is inspired by the Saturnalia festival, celebrated by ancient Rome, which was a festival of light before the winter solstice. Supposedly, it was thought centuries ago that December 25th was the date chosen for Christmas because it corresponded with the Roman festival of Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, which translates to "Birthday of the Unconquered Sun", but that has been challenged by some scholars. Hey, history!

Aromaleigh was started back in 1998, is one of the first indie cosmetic companies to be started, and they are based in South Carolina. They offer a few fandom related collections, including Hannibal, Sherlock, and the Hunger Games, but most of their collections are historically and mythologically inspired.

Shipping - This collection officially released on November 14th (a day earlier than it was supposed to release), but I pre-ordered it, so it shipped for me on the 14th, and arrived via USPS 3 days later. I know some people who pre-ordered it the first day received theirs a day or so earlier than I did.

Product Size - This collection is available in sample bags or full size jars. You can also purchase the individual shades in the same sizes as well.

Free Samples - I always receive a generous amount of free samples with my Aromaleigh orders, and for this pre-order plus a few other samples I ordered, I received  free samples.

I bought sample bags and depotted them into jars for photography purposes.

All swatches are done over Too Faced Shadow Insurance primer unless otherwise noted.

Aureum - "A richly shimmering soft warm gold with color traveling sparkles of gold/green and red/violet."

There were a few in this collection that didn't seem to have much of a base shade, and most of the color just came from the glitter and this was one of those. This looks more orange to me than gold, and it's my least favorite shade of this collection. Orange eyeshadow is like the black eyeliner of the indie world. It comes in just about every collection, and you accumulate so much of it that you don't know what to do with it, because you can't possibly wear all of it.

Io, Saturnalia! - "A smooth rich teal blue with prominent gold/copper/red color traveling sparkles."

I really liked this shade, teals that lean a little gray are more unique to my collection, and with the beautiful golden sparkle in this one, I love this shadow.

Lord of Misrule - "A gorgeous taupe base with really strong orange-red-violet color traveling iridescence. It’s a neutral with an amazing, shimmery twist!"

When I originally saw the swatches for this collection, this was my favorite shade of the bunch, and seeing it in person, I think it's still my favorite. It's a very sparkly take on a neutral shade, and I love the reddish iridescence.

Lua Saturni - "A heathered deep indigo/violet (will change from more blue to more violet depending on your viewing conditions) with dominant blue to teal sparkles that color shift to fuchsia/red."

This shadow was a bluish violet with really prominent blue sparkles. I like this one because it's not too bright of a shade that it couldn't be worn everyday and in professional environments.

Luxuriae Maniae - "An imperial purplish mauve with chestnut tones and a strong and sparkling color traveling duochrome effect that ranges from gold, bronze and copper."

This shade is another favorite, I just love the purplish mauve base, and the bronze and copper sparkle and glimmer is so gorgeous.

Munera - "A rich taupe-y shade with brilliant aqua/gold/copper sparkles."

This one is a good everyday neutral shade with a little pizzazz. I would describe it as more of a blondish brown shade with a strong gold sheen with bronze sparkle.

Opalia - "A delicate opalescent pink with bountiful pink to blue color shift."

This one was the largest glitter of the whole collection, and not much base shadow, so it wasn't very opaque. I didn't care for this shade much, too much glitter for me.

Oscilla - "An exquisite shimmering peach with oodles of icy blue, pink, copper and gold color traveling sparkles."

This one also had the glitter problem, and it's a peach orange. Not my fave.

Sigillaria - "A gorgeously rich amber which is slightly metallic and having a spectacular amount of strong aqua and fuchsia sparklies."

Ohh this one was so smooth and buttery...this is probably the perfect shade to pair with just about anything else in the collection.

Sol Invictus - "A beautiful coral/orange shade with a slight golden undertone in certain lighting, bedazzled by color traveling orange-violet-fuchsia shimmer and bright green sparks."

This is a great color to match the name, it's a sunny coral with a orange-y golden shimmer, and in certain lights it looks more reddish, some it looks more orange. Very pretty, it's close enough to red that I love it.

Topsy Turvy - "A gorgeous multi-dimensional festive green with amber metallic lowlights and color-shifting highlight sparkles."

This is an excellent green shade for the holidays, and the sparkle looked almost reddish to me, so it's like Christmas colors!

Unchained Revelry - "A gorgeous berry shade that shifts to a softly metallic copper, with brilliant iridescent fuchsia and blue sparkles and copper iridescence."

I think the description for this shade is exactly correct, it's definitely a berry shade with fuchsia sparkles, and I could even see the blue sparkle as well. Very lovely, I bet it would look great with Lord of Misrule.

Overall, I really like this collection. There are a few standout shades, but I'm not sure which ones I would want in a full size. I really like Io, Saturnalia!, Lord of Misrule, Luxuriae Maniae, and Sol Invictus, but I just don't know if I would want a full size jar of them considering I have so much in my collection. Don't get me wrong, these are beautiful shadows, and a phenomenal collection, I couldn't stop staring at how colorful the sparkles were when I was photographing them. But I don't think it's necessary to get the whole collection in full size, maybe just your favorites.

Another thing that doesn't really have to do with this collection in particular, but Aromaleigh in general: I totally get that this is absolutely not feasible for them because of the sheer number of shadows they offer, but I wish they sold mini jars. I love the shadows, but buying everything I love in a full size jar would be expensive. So I pretty much only buy samples, when I would be completely willing to pay a little more to get a mini jar. Like I said, I understand that they just can't do that because of the size of their catalog, but I for one would buy more if they offered mini jars.

Customer Service - I did not have to contact customer service for this order, and so far I never had to for a problem with an order. When I have contacted them for other reasons though, I received incredible service.

Availability - This collection is limited edition, but so far there is no set time for when it will be discontinued. I expect after the holidays, it will disappear.

Overall Satisfaction - I liked most of this collection, and my favorites were Io, Saturnalia!, Lord of Misrule, Luxuriae Maniae, Sol Invictus, and I have a soft spot for Unchained Revelry. I wish there were not two orange shadows in this collection, one is plenty.

What did you think of the Aromaleigh Sol Invictus collection? Let me know in the comments!

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